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The ball Bonds hit for his 756th home run will be branded by an asterisk before Marc Ecko donates it to the Hall of Fame. I can’t believe the Hall would involve itself in such a shameful episode, or how foolish the Hall of Fame President comes off in defending his decision:

…. Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey said accepting the ball did not mean the Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y., endorses the viewpoint that Barry Bonds used drugs.

“This ball wouldn’t be coming to Cooperstown if Marc hadn’t bought it from the fan who caught it and then let the fans have their say,” Petroskey told The Associated Press. “We’re delighted to have the ball. It’s a historic piece of baseball history.”

Hall of Fame officials and Ecko are discussing how to affix the asterisk on the ball. It’s not yet known when the ball will go on display.

Ecko, known for his pop culture pranks, said he bought the ball and arranged to let the public decide its future online as a way to hold a conversation about a classic American sport in the digital world.

“This is obviously something that struck a chord with fans,” Ecko said Wednesday in a phone interview with the AP.

So, the Hall doesn’t think allowing Ecko to mutilate and degrade a ball that was part of one of the most important records in all of sports is a bad idea? It doesn’t see itself being a part of one of Ecko’s publicity stunts, but, it’s gonna help Ecko figure out a way to do it? The Hall of Fame needs to be above this kind of stunt, and I –following David Pinto’s lead– have already sent them an email to let them know that they are engaging in a sordid publicity stunt, and should reconsider. Here’s the link, you tell ‘em, too.

To me, this is just one more part of the, “I don’t like Bonds, so fuck him,” attitude that the baseball media has made it clear we should feel. First of all, for some guy in NY to say he doesn’t “like” Bonds is as stupid as it is for him to say he sees him as a role model. He doesn’t know Bonds, neither do I, for that matter. Bonds is as Bonds is portrayed, and because the drumbeat of anti-Bonds vitriol has been going on for over 5 years now, Marc Ecko was able to get more people to vote for fucking with him than not. Gee, what a surprise.

(Not to mention, Ecko’s name is now one of the number one search engine queries in the world right now)

The Hall should be above this kind of bullshit, but then again, most of these hacks get to decide who to put in and who to keep out, don’t they?

All commentary is the opinion of John J Perricone unless otherwise noted.
None of the opinions expressed should be construed as being endorsed by theSan Francisco Giants,
Major League Baseball, or any other organization mentioned herein.